Lemberg & Associates Files Class Action Suit Against Predatory Debt Collection Practices

STAMFORD, CT — Deploring deceptive tactics used by debt collection agencies and banks to manipulate consumers, attorney Sergei Lemberg (www.StopCollector.com) announced today that his firm filed a class action lawsuit against Capital One Bank, its in-house collection arm Capital One Services, and third-party collector United Recovery Systems. "Every day, Americans are victimized by collection agencies’ dirty tricks," Lemberg said. "When collectors violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, they must be held accountable."

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, explains that the lead plaintiff, Henry Rogers, received one of what are presumably mass-mailed collection letters with the Capital One logo on the letterhead and an offer to "Pay Over Time 0% APR" by calling a toll-free number.

But, according to Lemberg, the letter was nothing more than a trap. In fact, the letter was sent by Capital One Collections and telephone calls to the toll-free number were, unbeknownst to Mr. Rogers, redirected to United Recovery. "By enticing consumers to make a phone call on a no-lose offer, the bank trapped them into talking to trained debt collectors," said Lemberg. "These predatory practices mislead consumers and are in clear violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act."

Lemberg noted that the FDCPA forbids false, deceptive, or misleading representation, yet the letter Rogers received appeared to come from Capitol One when it actually had been sent by debt collectors (Capital One Collections and United Collections). "It’s a classic bait-and-switch, and demonstrates the lengths debt collectors will go in order to collect nowadays," said Lemberg. Furthermore, although the law requires that written communication with a consumer must include a notice that information provided by the consumer will be used to collect a debt, the letter that Rogers received buried that information among other notices on the back of the letter. Lemberg said, "The violations didn’t stop there. The letter also didn’t include a required notice that Mr. Rogers had the right to request validation of the debt and to dispute the debt."

Friday’s class action filing is the second such lawsuit brought by Lemberg & Associates for violations of the FDCPA. On December 29, 2009, the firm filed suit against Capitol One Services, NCO Financial Systems, and Capital One Bank in U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York, Binghampton Division on behalf of Gareth Wood and other class members for similar FDCPA violations.

This press release references complaint 3:10-cv-00398-VLB, Rogers v. Capital One Svc LLC et al, United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.

About Lemberg & Associates, LLC
The attorneys at Lemberg & Associates, LLC are experts in consumer law, fair debt law, and lemon law. Sergei Lemberg can brief you about illegal debt collection practices, state lemon laws, and other protections afforded consumers.